Lecture 12.docx

05/02/13
Forensic anthropology and mass disasters
Forensic Anthro
Disaster response and management protocols
- In most countries there is a protocol for responding to mass disasters.
- Typical measures put in place when an event occurs (mass fatality incident)
- A mass fatality incident means that there has been more deaths than local resources can handle
- There is no absolute number of MFI, depends on location of the event and the resources they
have. It is up to the local government to make this decision
- Public safety Canada
- Official gov’t plan put in place if there is any major emergency - Federal emergency response
plan (FERP)
Disaster response
- Usually there is a local response and if it becomes a mass fatality incident, the local authorities
call in federal agencies.
- In the US, they call the federal agency called DMORT (disaster mortuary operational response
team) and in Canada, they call the federal agency called DART (disaster assistance response
team)
- The function of these agencies is if invited, they assist local authorities in MFI
- They come in only when requested
- Suite of people who become members of these regional response teams:
o Pathologists
o Forensic anthropologist
o Forensic odontologist
o Morgue workers
o Funeral directors
- If you are dealing with a mass disaster, temporary, portable morgues are set up
- Search, recovery, documentation, examination, ID, database, admin, safety officers and
specialists, med/psych support, repatriation (refers to arranging to return the remains of a
victim to the family)
Role of the forensic anthropologist
- Work in search and recovery sections AND as part of the ID team in the morg